(Photo: Provided / NASA)

The Red Planet is back – and this week it is closer than it is to it Was in 15

The night owls have probably already seen Mars at low altitude in the southeast after midnight, its bright red glow is undeniable, and when it is close to the Earth, it shines like a orange tag in the night. at prime time.

March The sun will set in the northwest and Mars will rise on the other side of the sky (southeast) when it is about 35 million miles from you. The last time Mars was so close to Earth was in 2003.

Finding Mars and Beyond

The closer we get to Mars, the bigger and brighter it will be. The only night objects brighter than Mars at this time are Venus and the moon. Mars will simply be the final of five extraterrestrial objects that you can search for this weekend.

To learn more: The water is buried under the Martian landscape, according to the study

you will actually see the planet Venus. Many times brighter than any other star, you can not miss Venus when you face the west after sunset.

The second object to appear will be about mid-height in the southern sky. This is Jupiter, who will appear about half less brilliant than Venus. The third planet to show itself will be Saturn in the southeast sky. Saturn does not differ as much as Venus or Jupiter, but always shines with a steady yellow light rivaling the brightest stars.

Then, around 9.30 pm or 10 pm comes the main event: The moon and Mars will rise together over the southeastern horizon. Friday night, the full moon will be about 6 degrees from the red planet, and on Saturday night, the nearly full moon will have drifted further, but it will still be hanging around the Mars district.

Dust Storm of Mars (Photo: Provided / NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS)

What to look for on Mars

A l '; naked eye, Mars will look like an exceptionally bright star, but at first glance it may not look very red. It can sometimes appear orange, pink or even yellow. However, you can easily notice that Mars seems "redder" than most other stars.

Mars is a small planet – only about half the Earth's diameter – but its proximity this week may allow anyone with a medium-sized telescope to see it up close. The ice caps are visible as small white dots on the poles, and strange brown marks sometimes appear on the surface, which suggests that astronomers of the 19th and 20th century mistakenly believe that they were Martian channels. The surface of Mars and almost surrounding the entire planet. These global, though impressive, dust storms obscure the view, and fine details can be difficult to discern this week, even through the best telescopes.

Please note that July 27th is not the only day to see Mars. For the next few weeks, Mars will remain exceptionally bright. During the autumn and winter, Mars will still look like a very bright star after sunset, and it will stay in the evening sky, night after night, slowly dimming when it s & # 39; 39, away from Earth, until the middle of 2019.

Whether you observe Mars at the naked eye or telescope, go out and enjoy a beautiful summer evening at the glow of the red planet.

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